How to Change the World
by Ink Reservoir
Summary: How Death Note would have gone if there was one significant change to its protagonist. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter One: Resolve

**A/N: This chapter is very similar to the first chapter of Death Note. I wanted to change more but as a lot of key events took place, I was unable to. You can skip to the end if you're impatient because that's where the most important part is, but I'd recommend reading the rest to get a better understanding of the situation. Also, I want to say that practically all of Light's opinions in this fic are different from mine.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.**

**How to Change the World**

**Chapter One**

**Resolve**

"Death Note," she murmured. "Like a notebook of death?"

Stupid. She flipped it open to the first page.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."

How dramatic. She tossed the notebook back onto the ground. Why did people even like that kind of thing? It brought to mind the dumb chain letters that spammed her inbox. 'Forward this to twelve people or when you open the shower curtain you'll see a giant monster that'll kill you'.

She walked away.

Something made her turn back.

* * *

Light read the rules to herself over and over until they were burned into her memory.

_It's not real, _she thought. _But it is well thought out._

For the person to die, you had to be picturing their face in your mind so others with the same name wouldn't be killed. Unless a cause of death was specified, the person would die of a heart attack forty seconds after their name was written. If a cause of death was specified, the user of the notebook had six minutes and forty seconds to write in the details.

_It's not real._

…_but what if?_

She wanted to try it. She knew it was stupid, but the curiosity was killing her. Just one name, that was all. Just to see if it worked. It wouldn't, but she needed to try.

…_but who?_

On the off chance the notebook actually did work, who would she test it on? Would she be a murderer if it did work?

No, more like… a scientist.

If it did work, it had to be someone whose death wouldn't affect anyone. Someone nobody would miss.

She turned on the television.

"-killed six people yesterday, Kurou Otoharada, is holding people hostage in a daycare, including women and children."

Anger flared inside her at the reporter's words. _Including women and children._ Women. They grouped them together with children as though it were a cause for pity. Obviously it was, but a woman could take care of herself just as well as a man.

When they showed the man's photo, she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

_Alright, _Light thought. _Just write the name and picture the face. Easy._

She took out a pen, feeling nervous.

_It's not like it's real._

Kurou Otoharada.

She penned the name slowly, carefully, ignoring that her hands were shaking. When she'd finished the last character, real nervousness started. She watched the digital clock as the slowest forty seconds of her life crept by.

And…

Nothing.

"I knew it," she said, heaving a sigh of relief, and picked up the remote.

"Something's happening!" the reporter said suddenly. "The people are leaving the building!"

What?

"No," Light muttered.

It was hard to hear over the commotion.

"They're saying he just collapsed!" said the reporter finally. "Paramedics are moving in!"

Light watched in mild horror.

"-heart attack-"

She hit the power button.

No… no, that was impossible. It was… a coincidence. It couldn't have been anything other than a coincidence! You didn't just write down someone's name and watch them die forty seconds later, it wasn't scientifically or logically possible!

There was only one thing left to do.

She'd have to try it again.

* * *

Cram school. Light didn't really need it, but she went every night anyway. Today was a math course, which Light normally enjoyed, but today her thoughts were on the notebook shoved in her purse.

_How can I confirm this thing is real? Who… who would I kill?_

Behind her, a boy and his friends bullied another kid into giving him money.

_Some people, _she thought, glaring at her desk. _With some people, who they'll be in ten years is so clear in your mind. Disgusting. It makes you wonder if killing that kind of people would be a favor to the world, not a murder. Should I kill him…?_

No. No, it shouldn't be anyone she knew in person.

Light had to stop for a minute, to think about her thoughts and to hate herself a little for considering killing a classmate.

The bell rang and Light started to make her way home.

As she was passing a bulk store, a bunch of men on motorcycles rode up beside her and another woman who looked as though she was just leaving. She had black hair and her arms were full of groceries.

"Hey!" said the leader, puffing. "What're pretty ladies like you doing out here in the dark?"

"Yeah," chuckled the man behind him. "Very pretty girls."

Light narrowed her eyes. "Stay away from me."

The men burst into raucous laughter. "Aww, don't be like that!"

The other woman looked scared.

"The name's Takuo Shibuimaru," said the leader, pulling down his shades with his ringed fingers. "You girls should come with us, we'll have a little fun!"

Light glared at him. "I told you to stay away from me."

"Naw, you didn't say anything like that," he said and got off the motorcycle. He took a step toward her. Light took a step back, suddenly afraid. Another man got off and approached the other woman, who had dropped the groceries and was trembling.

"S-stay away," Light cleared her throat. "Stay away!"

His hands reached out for her and he was standing so close she could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. Light balled her hand into a fist and punched him in the face.

"Aiieee!" he yelped and took a few steps back. Light used the opportunity to run in the store. Through the window, she watched Shibuimaru recover and gain on the other woman with his gang. Light didn't know what to do, watching as they pushed her against his motorcycle. Then she remembered the notebook in her bag.

She picked a magazine off the rack and slid the notebook between its pages, hesitating before opening it. She glanced out the window again. What if it didn't work…?

Well, there was no harm trying.

'Takuo Shibuimaru,' she scrawled, pausing. Method of death? Something painful… 'Accident.'

She felt horrible for just standing there, watching, placing all her trust in a notebook that probably didn't work. It made her restless. _And worse, _she thought as she watched people walk by as though they couldn't see the defenceless woman who was about to become a rape victim. _No one does anything about it. They witness crime right before their eyes but they're too afraid to stop it. It's… pathetic._

And then Shibuimaru gets on his motorcycle and drives away to be promptly hit by a truck.

Light's breath hitches. The black-haired woman screams and runs away. The gang members shriek at each other and run to see what happened. It was too fast, too vivid, so sudden that Light had barely seen it. She stared at the notebook in her hands, concealed behind a magazine with Misa Amane's face on the cover. The Death Note… it was real!

She dropped the magazine back on the rack and pushed the notebook into her bag. She had to get out of here. What if someone suspected her? No, no, that was crazy. Who could suspect her? She had nothing to do with the accident from what anyone else would be able to see. She bolted out of the store. Dramatically, it was raining. She clutched her purse to her chest as she walked.

_I-I've killed two people…_ she thought. _I'm a murderess. I've murdered two people. I've taken their lives from them! Who am I to judge whether or not someone else dies? I killed two other human beings, I've taken two lives…_

* * *

Light shut the door.

"I'm home."

Her mother came to greet her at the doorway, as always. Today, the scores on the national practice college entrance exams had been given out.

"Well? How did you do on the tests?" her mom said, a hint of… something… in her voice. Light gave her the sheet.

Sachiko Yagami sighed. "Great job, dear."

"Not what you were expecting?"

"No…. just not what I was hoping."

Light ran a hand through her hair. "I don't want to discuss this. I get the top scores in Japan, and you're disappointed."

"I'm not disappointed with the score, Light!" her mom said, walking away into the kitchen. Light glared at her back and started to walk up the stairs. Her mother sharply beckoned for her to follow.

"What?" Light snapped. "We've discussed this a million times, it's not up for discussion!"

"Don't raise your voice at me!" her mother snapped back. Light rolled her eyes. "I just… I just think you should change your-"

"Goals, life, dreams, ambitions-"

"No!" her mother said with aggravation. "Forget it."

"Fine."

Light stormed off, muttering to herself as she descended the stairs to her room. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said under her breath, locking the door. "I already have what I want."

She walked over to her desk and opened the drawer where the Death Note was (not very well) hidden. She flipped it open.

The pages were covered from top to bottom with name after name after name. Light smiled to herself as she looked at them, not even reading them, just looking at them. She almost let out a clichéd little laugh.

"You seem to like it."

She swiveled around in her chair and clamped a hand over her mouth before she could release a high pitched scream.

Tall, blue, dressed in clothes that seemed sewn into him, silver heart dangling from one ear, the shinigami laughed and Light fell from her chair.

"You seem so surprised to see me."

Light blinked a few times, but the thing didn't disappear. She sucked in a deep breath, and used the back of the chair to support her.

"I'm a shinigami."

"I-I know what you are," she said, and cursed herself for stuttering. She looked at its face, its lips pulled back into a grin.

"Oh?"

She stood up shakily. "And I'm not surprised," Light said, forcing a smile. "If anything, I've been expecting you."

"Ohhh."

The thing stared at her and its smile suddenly seemed genuinely amused. It picked up the Death Note off her desk.

"Look how many names you've written in five days," it said. "That's more than probably anyone. Most people are too scared to keep writing after one."

"I'm not like most people."

"Yeah, obviously," it said.

"Well," she cleared her throat. "That used to be yours, right? And I've written in it. What's going to happen to me, are you going to steal my soul? Make it into another earring to match that one?"

The shinigami looked confused, even with the grin on its face.

"What? Your soul? Earrings? Do humans do that type of thing? I'm not going to do anything to you."

Light stared.

"When the Death Note first touched the ground of the human world, it became a part of it," Ryuk elaborated. "That's your notebook now. If you don't want it, you can dump it on someone else. I don't really care. I'd have to wipe all your memories of the notebook in that situation, though."

"Wait... so anyone who'd picked this up could basically kill anyone they wanted and there wouldn't be any consequences?"

"Well," Ryuk said. "Not NO consequences. Whoever uses the Death Note will suffer the pain and guilt that no one but a user of the notebook can understand. Also, when you die, I have to write your name in my Note."

It gestured to its belt and Light noticed for the first time the black notebook strapped to it. She stopped herself from shivering.

"Oh, and no human who uses the Death Note can go to heaven or hell. That's about it."

Light laughed nervously. "I have one more question... why me?"

Ryuk's olive eyes seemed to glitter. "I was originally going to lecture you for thinking you're special if the question came up, but I might as well just tell you. It was supposed to be this guy called Yamamoto who picked it up, but obviously that's not what happened."

_Yamamoto? _Light thought. He was in a few of her classes, and as far as she knew, there was nothing special about him.

"Why'd you even drop the notebook?"

"You said _one_ more question," the shinigami whined.

"Just answer it," she rolled her eyes.

"It was an accident."

"No it wasn't," Light said irritably. "You wrote instructions in English and even planned who you wanted to pick it up. It was anything but an accident, so why?"

"Fine," it laughed raspily. "I did it because I was bored."

* * *

_The world's disgusting. It's like sleepwalking through life. You wake up at the same time, eat the same food, go to school and learn nothing, speak to the same stupid people, go through routine after routine and get told routine is _good,_ you get home and do the same homework and watch the same shows and listen to news that never really changes except for where it happens, you sleep and wake up and it all repeats again._

* * *

"You've written a lot," said the shinigami again when Light didn't comment. "Hundreds of names in five days. That's probably more than most shinigami do in a century. But you only ever use heart attacks to kill people... how come? I mean, you wrote 'accident' for that one guy but that's it."

"Well, if you don't write in a cause of death, the person just dies of a heart attack."

"Yeah?"

Light took the notebook from Ryuk. "Every name you see here belongs to a terrible criminal, mostly either serial rapists or killers. By killing them with heart attacks, a connection forms. People will begin to realize that bad people are dying, and they'll be too afraid to go on like that."

Ryuk didn't answer. He looked like he was waiting for her to finish speaking.

"Oh, that's it?" he said finally. "What's the point o' that?"

"The _point_, Ryuk, is that the world will become a better place."

"Why d'you even care?"

She thought back to that day.

* * *

_I'm a murderess…_

_No. They deserved death. When I killed Otoharada, I freed people from his crazy hostage trap. And Shibuimaru intended to rape me and someone else. They got what they deserved. This is what I've been thinking about my entire life! The world is slowly rotting and with this, I saved people from trauma and possibly death. Things can't go on the way they are!_

* * *

"Things need to change," she said. "The world can't remain the mess it is. My world is rotting too. People think they can just take advantage of other people-"

The man who nearly raped her.

"-advantage of _me_, and the truth is…"

She took in Ryuk with his yellow eyes and his spiked hair and his Death Note strapped to his leg.

"I was bored too."

Ryuk laughed.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"Nothing. Humans are just so interesting."

"I'm not a plaything, Ryuk."

He laughed again and she looked out the window.

"And…" she added as an afterthought.

"Huh?"

"Once the world is cleaned of its filth, it will need a ruler. I plan to be that ruler."

Ryuk laughed again. "Now I see what you're getting out of it. Power, all humans are the same."

She narrowed her eyes. "It's not _power_, Ryuk. What I want is respect."

"Uh-huh."

"…you don't really get humans at all, do you? Don't you see? As the goddess of a new world, I will be a leader. An example. And most importantly, a woman."

"You're already a woman, though…" Ryuk said.

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "The problem with humans is that they still don't take women seriously. They call these things "women's rights" as though it makes a difference. As though we need to have our own name for it, like they're some sort of gift we're supposed to praise society for giving us as if we shouldn't have had them in the first place, and we can try but things will never change because the earth is too full of idiots who think less of us. The Death Note gave me an advantage, one that no one else in the world has… with this, I can show the world that being a woman does not give people the right to disrespect us. With this, I can show the world that it can be ruled properly by anyone with a brain."

* * *

**A/N: This fanfiction happened because I was looking through portrayals of Death Note character gender-bends and didn't understand why most of them were portrayed as completely different from their opposite-gender counterpart.**

**I wanted to try my own. To write a good fanfic, it would have to be a change that would be a significant change on how the story went. For example, if L was gender-bent, she'd probably be so much like L that it wouldn't affect the story.**

**I started talking to a friend about what Light would be like gender-bent. We realized the story would significantly change.**

**What can I say, I got excited.**

**I just want to explain why Light is a feminist. As a male, Light was pretty sexist against women. He was so surprised when he realized Naomi Misora actually had a brain and was a woman at the same time that it was comical. He never saw Misa and Takada as actual people. To gender-bend him properly, I needed to put the same sexism in Fem!Light. Thus her assumption that men are idiots who don't know what they're dealing with was born. She's a feminist because it's actually had a big effect on her life. You can PM me if you have any questions or leave them in a review and I'll be happy to respond.**

**Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out… when I'm done writing it.**

**(Ugh. I had a plan to write the whole thing before posting it but I get too excited.)**


	2. Chapter Two: Challenge

**How to Change the World**

**Chapter Two**

**Challenge**

"See how it says 'he'?" Light pointed at her computer screen which had one of various Kira fan sites. Kira was the name the public had decided to give the mysterious criminal killer. "People just assume Kira is a man because they think only a man would do this kind of thing."

Ryuk just blinked. "I thought you wanted them to think you were God, not some human."

"No, Ryuk... Well, sort of, I guess. I don't want to think I'm some kind of... well. A god can have a gender, sheesh, I mean, you're a guy."

"Oh yeah."

It hadn't taken Light long to figure out that Ryuk wasn't the expected terrifying picture of a shinigami. No one but her could see him and he didn't do much besides complain that her classes were boring. He really liked apples and it was lucky that her family seemed to have apples around all the time anyway.

"And then there's the occasional person," she went on, ignoring his stupid comment. "Who says something like 'well, Kira could be a woman' and no one really takes them seriously."

There was a knock at the door.

"Light? Can you help me with my homework?"

Light's sister, Sayu, had gotten used to the locked door. Light got up and unlocked it, letting Sayu in.

"We're doing quadratic equations in math and I'm like, the only one who doesn't get this stuff."

"Sit," Light said and started to explain the formulas. Sayu and Light were close. Actually, Light would even say she was closer to Sayu than anyone else in the family. When they were younger, they would stay up hours after they were supposed to be asleep giggling about things that weren't funny and playing pretend. Years later, they still stayed up together. Now they talked about other, more 'important' things.

x

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for a worldwide broadcast from Interpol's ICPO."

Light had just finished explaining to Ryuk the elaborate way she had hidden the Death Note when the screen of the news station that had been on in the background changed. Light highered the volume.

A man with dark hair that almost reached his shoulders announced himself as Lind L. Tailor- L.

Light had heard of L. She wanted to be a detective when she finished school, so of course she had. L had solved cases that were widely regarded as 'unsolvable' and was considered the greatest detective in the world. Whoever L was had never shown the public his face... before now, apparently. Light sighed, apparently her theory that L was actually female wasn't true.

L said that he was currently heading the Kira Investigation, not referring to Kira with any gender-specific pronouns.

"I consider this to be one of the most atrocious acts of murder in history."

Light rolled her eyes as L stopped to address Kira, promising that he'd put Kira behind bars and blah blah blah. It was all so irrelevant. Light was the one with the Death Note, there was absolutely no way anyone could find her when her method of killing was so obscure. She'd guessed the police would get involved but it didn't really matter. Ryuk was chuckling.

"Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve, however, what you are doing right now is evil."

Light blinked and L seemed to smirk.

"_You _think... I'm evil?"

Light laughed because she didn't know what else to do.

"Me?"

Ryuk laughed too. "Yep, you."

Light shot him a glare. "No. I am..." she spluttered, trying to think of a word. "justice! I protect the innocent and those who fear evil!"

She clenched and unclenched her fists. Who did he think he was, some kind of master of good and bad? Light was killing _serial murderers and rapists_! Did he honestly believe it was okay for those kinds of people to be alive? He threw them into jail cells for their victims to pay for, as if that made any sense. What an idiot.

Light opened the Death Note on her desk and pulled out a pen, looking up to smile at the screen.

"I guess you're just too stupid, L."

_Lind L. Tailor_, she scrawled in big letters across the page, then counted down forty seconds.

L collapsed with a heart attack.

Light grinned as security dragged him away from the desk. "What, nothing else to say?"

There was a sound of static before the screen changed, a white background with a gothic letter 'L' replaced it. Light blinked at it.

"I-I don't believe it..." an obviously synthesized voice said. "I tested it just in case, but I never thought it could actually be true... Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it."

Light blinked again, not sure what exactly was happening.

"Listen to me, Kira. If you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man you just saw die on television, I'll have you know that that was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today- that wasn't me."

"What?" Light said to the screen. As L explained further that Lind L. Tailor had been captured in secrecy by the police so he wouldn't seem familiar to Light when she killed him, the shock was beginning to wear away into panic.

(Also, the possibility that L was female was back on the table.)

"Now, try to kill me!"

Light was powerless. She didn't know L's name or his face and she could do nothing but stare at the black letter as L continued to taunt her.

"Go on then, hurry up and kill me! What's wrong? Kill me! What are you going to do?"

Ryuk chuckled. Light bit her lip and shut her eyes. "You... you..."

"What's the matter? Can't you do it?"

This wasn't good at all.

"So there _are _some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint."

Light clenched her fists. Right now, there was no one she wanted to punch in the face more. And she couldn't even imagine his.

"Let me return the favor. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast, we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan."

Her jaw fell open. Ryuk was beside himself with laughter. Light shot him a glare but it didn't silence him. The altered voice went on to describe Light's first victim, the man from the preschool, and explain that L had deduced Kira's location in Japan based on that. Light had to resist throwing the remote at the screen. She picked up her pen and started rolling it between her hands as L talked for what felt like forever.

"To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect everything would go this smoothly. Kira, it seems that it won't be very long before I can sentence you to death. Naturally, I'm very curious about your method of killing, but I don't mind waiting. You can answer all my questions when I catch you."

The obnoxious twat!

"Let's meet again soon, Kira."

Ryuk seemed too busy cackling to say anything coherent.

The screen turned to static and Light turned it off, silent. She felt as though something in the world had just changed.

"Really...?" she said at last. "L's going to sentence _me_ to death?"

She grinned. "We'll see. Sounds interesting. Fine, L, I accept your challenge."

Light folded her arms across her chest and fell back in her chair, staring at the wall in thought. Ryuk was quiet at last.

"I swear that I will win this," she said. "And when I do, the world will see a new way of thinking. I am _justice_!"

Ryuk laughed.

"What happens if L's a girl?"

Light sighed.

"I'll still win."

"And if she's not?"

Light rolled her eyes.

"What?" Ryuk laughed. "I thought it was the same thing."

"Well, it isn't."

Ryuk ended the conversation with a laugh.

**A/N: This chapter was up later than I'd originally wanted it to be, I'm sorry. Hopefully the next will be uploaded sooner.**

**If anyone's wondering, L is still male.**

**I'm sorry that so far the story is basically the same as Death Note. Basically everything up until Raye Penber comes in will have to follow the storyline because those are things that L did that Light wouldn't respond to differently based on his gender. For instance, she still kills Lind L. Tailor because being a female doesn't make her any 'smarter'.**

**So um, yeah. Bear with me.**


	3. Chapter Three: Independence

**How to Change the World**

**Chapter Three**

**Independence**

The doorbell rang.

"Oh hey, dad's home!"

"Wait," Light said. "Wait- Sayu!"

Her sister had already run out and down the stairs.

Light sighed and stared at the textbook in front of her somewhat guiltily. She hadn't manage to convince Sayu to solve a single problem on her own.

"You have a dad?" Ryuk said.

"No, really?"

x

Light sat next to Sayu at the dinner table across from her parents. The rest of her family exchanged small talk and Light stared off into space as she ate, resurfacing back to reality every now and then to make sure no one was arguing with her.

"So, Light, how is school going?" Soichiro said.

She blinked. "Alright."

There was an awkward pause. "Have you decided what you want to do once you've finished?"

"Dad, I decided that years ago."

"Light..." her mom said gently.

"Look, I'm not going to change my mind. This is not up for discussion."

"Light," said her father. "We're not saying any of this to hurt you... it's the opposite. It's because we care about you."

Light sighed, trying to keep her patience. "I have already accounted for that. I know you care about me but I've made my decision and I have no intentions of changing it. Why can't you accept that and _encourage _me?"

"You could do anything, anything you wanted, so why-"

"This _is_ what I want to do, and I know that I'm capable."

"Guys!" Sayu jumped in. "Can we _please _just eat and not argue about this again? Light made up her mind, so just let it go."

"Sayu, stay out of it," Sachiko said.

"Argh! No one ever listens to what I have to say! If Light wants to be a police detective then who cares? It's _her _decision."

"Light could be hurt doing that," Soichiro said. Light stared at her plate so she wouldn't have to see the pain in his eyes. "There are too many horrible things out there and Light doesn't need to be exposed to- to those types of people. These are _criminals. _I've been working with them for years and there are too many horror stories. Too much terror for a young girl. Light deserves to be in a positive environment-"

"Not to mention it is improper for a woman to be doing that kind of work!" Sachiko added and Light suddenly felt less guilty. "It's a _man's _job! Women should learn how to support a family, not how to support an entire nation!"

"It's not the _entire _nation," Light said, rolling her eyes. "And besides that, detective work is not a _man's_ job. Anybody with a brain can solve crimes. And _obviously _I know what the risks are! I know who those people are and that's why I want to stop them!"

She turned to glare at her mother.

"And besides that, what the hell is a man's job?"

"Light!" her father said. "Please watch your langua-"

"I am perfectly capable of doing _anything _that I put my mind to!" Light shouted, ignoring him. "And if I have decided that I want to be a police detective, that is my decision and I expect you to respect that!"

"Don't _yell _at me," Sachiko said warningly. "Listen-"

"No, you listen. I-"

"STOP ARGUING!" Sayu shouted over them, shutting her eyes and covering her ears.

"Why can't you take up cooking or-"

"Cooking?" Light laughed sharply. "Oh, yes, and I suppose you think I ought to find myself a husband and let him do all the work while I stay home and-"

"There's nothing wrong with staying home to raise your children!"

"I don't _have _children! I'm not married, I am seventeen years old and I have potential that you are trying to crush-"

"Light," Soichiro interrupted. "Don't say those things to your mother. Calm down."

Light sat down, realizing for the first time that she'd been standing. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

"This is officially your final chance to voice any opinions you may have on the matter. Following this dinner, it will no longer be up for discussion and I refuse to hear a single word concerning the career I have chosen to pursue."

Sayu groaned again. "I'm not hungry anymore guys, okay?"

"Have you finished your homework?" Soichiro asked.

"Umm, no..."

"Alright, go do that."

"Sure, dad. I love you."

She left to run up the stairs.

Light looked at her mother, whose eyes were blazing.

"Why would you say those things in front of your sister?"

"What things?" Light says, returning her attention to the food on her plate. She wasn't very hungry anymore either.

Sachiko glared at her. "Your ideas about-"

"Oh, you mean my opinions?"

"Let's not start this again," Soichiro said. "Light, you must understand that we're just... concerned for you."

Light sighed. "I do understand that. I do, I promise. I'm just frustrated because you don't recognize that. I know that you're concerned, I just-"

"Don't care," Sachiko said.

"_No_," Light said. "Let me finish. I meant that this is my life and this is my choice. Dad, I respect and _admire _you. You live your life as a hero to many people. But I'm not doing this just because that's what you did. This is an independent choice that I made as a person, this is what I want to do with my life. I've given this a lot of thought, and-"

"When you were seven, you said that-"

"Let me finish."

Sachiko sighed.

"Basically, this is my choice and I would appreciate support because that's what I need from you. I appreciate your concern but it's time to stop worrying about me and start treating me like a person capable of thinking for herself and making her own decisions."

Sachiko opened her mouth and Soichiro silenced her. It was quiet for a few minutes.

"Light," Soichiro said. "Please... please try to see this from my point of view. You've shown so much potential since you were a child. I... when you used to say you wanted to be a police detective like your father, I was so proud of... of myself because the smartest little girl in the world wanted to be like... like me. I didn't think it would always last, though. I just want you to be happy and I want you to be safe. You're my little girl and I don't want you to lose the brilliance you bring to the world."

Light suppressed the urge to sigh. She and her father's minds just worked differently. He couldn't accept that at this point, his feelings about the situation were just irrelevant.

"Yes, Light," Sachiko said. "We want you to have the best possible future."

"At this point, I'm just repeating myself," Light said, wondering if that was harsh. "I understand and I appreciate it, but I don't agree."

"Light, please realize that you are... well, a _woman._ You should behave like one."

"Ugh," Light groaned, shutting her eyes and leaning back in her chair. "Here we are again, the woman thing. Can you please understand that that is not a proper argument?"

Sachiko gasped and Light couldn't fathom why.

"I'm tired, we will discuss this another time," Sachiko said finally.

"No. I will not discuss this fur-"

"It is not your decision."

Light buried her face in her hands. "I've lost my appetite."

x

"Well, well, Daddy's a policeman."

"Not now, Ryuk."

"I'm guessing you can get his information from police thingys?"

"Not _now_."

**A/N: Wow, originally I was just going to skip the part where we find out Soichiro is Light's dad because everyone already knows that but then I remembered all her family issues. I don't really have much to say about this chapter, I'm pretty happy with it. The next one will be up soon because I've already written, like, half of it.**


	4. Chapter Four: Follower

**How to Change the World**

**Chapter Four**

**Follower**

Light typed in the password to her father's computer and his files instantly popped up on the screen.

"You're not very trustworthy, are you?" Ryuk said.

Light ignored him and clicked on the most recent one.

"Oh..."

"What?"

She scanned the document. "They already suspect Kira is a student."

"Haha."

She took a sip of her coffee. "We'll just have to contradict that."

"Won't they know you got police information, though?" Ryuk asked, taking a bite out of an apple. Light smiled.

"Maybe that's what I want them to know."

Ryuk shook his head. "I'm not human so I'm not really sure, but I think you're crazy."

* * *

"Light?"

Light sighed. "I told you not to talk to me in public."

"Fine, it's not like you have to talk. Listen, though. And hey, stop whining, we're in an empty alley, it's not like-"

"What do you want?"

"Weeeell, you already know that I'm not on your side or L's."

"Yeaah?"

"Aaaand, you know that I'm not taking sides and I don't care about your human right and wrong thing and I'm really not here to give you my opinions, I'm just here to watch."

"Mm..."

"I'm not going to help you or give you advice and I'm not going to tell you that you're a bad person."

"Is there a point to all this?"

"I'm getting there! What I'm trying to say is that I'm not here to praise or reprimand you, I'm completely neutral-"

"I get that part!"

"BUT as your ROOMMATE-"

_Took you long enough, _Light thought.

"I may have a couple things to say now and then!"

Light waited. Ryuk seemed surprised at the lack of interruption.

"Uh, well..." he said, seeming to be trying to recollect his thoughts. "Well, you know how I'm always following you around?"

"Uh-huh."

"And I know one else can see me but like... it's been really bugging me."

"What has?"

"I just feel like I'm being watched all the time!"

Light groaned. "Get to the point!"

"Fine! You're being followed by another human. He's watching you right now."

She stopped in her tracks.

A follower?

* * *

"So, what're you gonna do?"

Light paced around her room. "I'll just have to get rid of him."

Ryuk cackled. "Good luck with that."

**A/N: Yeah, I don't really like this chapter. I'm going to try and write the next one and post it by tomorrow to make up for this -necessary-too-short-not-fun-to-read one.**


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